Subway has a huge retail footprint. The sandwich chain operates nearly 37,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. Over 25,000 of those franchises are in the United States, which is more than McDonald's (MCD) and Starbucks (SBUX) which each have roughly 14,000 stores in their home country.
Being pretty much everywhere offers a lot of advantages for all three of these chains. It makes supply chains easier and puts the brands front of mind for customers because people never really need to consider whether they're near a Subway, Starbucks, or McDonald's location.
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Having a huge brick-and-mortar footprint has also allowed all three of these chains to leverage delivery with national partners. Now, Starbucks has led the way in pioneering giving customers a new reason to visit its stores that goes beyond being a place to work or meet friends.
Subway has noticed and it's going to follow the coffee chain in testing adding electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to some of its locations.
Image source: Starbucks
Starbucks Testing EV Charging Stations
With more people working from home, both Starbucks and Subway need ways to make eating and drinking inside their stores more appealing. Adding EV charging stations could do that as, in theory, you can charge your Tesla (TSLA), Rivian (RIVN), Lucid (LCID), and of course EVs from the traditional automakers while you enjoy your latte or a $5 Footlong.
Last March, Starbucks partnered with Volvo (VLVLY) to put EV charging stations in a few of its parking lots to enable people to recharge their vehicles along popular driving routes.
"Beginning this summer, Volvo electric vehicle chargers, powered by ChargePoint, will be available at up to 15 Starbucks stores along a 1,350-mile route from the Colorado Rockies to the Starbucks Support Center (headquarters) in Seattle," the company said in a news release.
It's a pilot program with chargers spaced out about 100 miles apart allowing EV owners an easy option for recharging (that also has clean bathrooms, food, and drinks).
"Starbucks is working with Volvo Cars to install EV charging stations at Starbucks stores. Up to 60 DC fast chargers will be built on the picturesque 1,350-mile route from Seattle to Denver, along I-90, I-84, and I-70," the coffee chain added.
Subway Has Its Own EV Charging Plan
While Starbucks has more of a reputation for progressive thinking than Subway, the sandwich maker has been very publicly trying to revive its brand. That has included a huge advertising campaign featuring Steph Curry, Serena Williams, and Tom Brady among others, and a major menu "refresh."
Now, the fast-food chain has partnered with GenZ EV Solutions, a provider of EV charging service, on what Subway is calling "an EV Charging Oasis of the future." The locations will include charging canopies with multiple ports, picnic tables, Wi-Fi, restrooms, green space, and even playgrounds. The two companies plan a multi-year rollout to add the Subway Oasis to select locations and also plan to test smaller-format, fast EV charging stations at select, new, or newly remodeled restaurants across the U.S., starting in 2023.
"Equitable access to charging is essential to the adoption of EVs in the future and Subway's scale will play an important role in democratizing charging infrastructure for millions of Americans," said GenZ EV Solutions CEO Jose Valls. "By coupling our technology and know-how with Red E Charging's strategic site selection and Subway's network of restaurants across the U.S., we are continuing to make key strides in building the EV infrastructure of tomorrow."
Subway has not commented on how many Oasis locations it plans to build, nor has it shared a target number for the tests of smaller-format EV charging.
